Frozen tax thresholds push millions more into higher rate band - HMRC stats

Industry expects further rise

Julia Bahr
clock • 3 min read

The freeze in tax allowances has led to a big increase in the number of people paying higher rate tax – up nearly 2 million in three years, according to figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

The total number of taxpayers was up by 2.5 million in three years and looks set to rise much further in the next two, consultancy LCP said. In 2019/20, the first year of this parliament, the number of higher rate taxpayers was 4.251 million but by 2022/23 the number had risen to 6.139 million, an increase of 1.888 million. The government figures included those paying at the ‘higher' 40% rate or the ‘additional' 45% rate. The number paying at 45% rate has risen in three years from 421,000 to 629,000. According to LCP, the number of higher-rate taxpayers is set to soar over the remaind...

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